DALLAS, Aug. 29, 2016 -- Food fortified with folic acid, a B vitamin required in human diets for numerous biological functions, was associated with reduced rates of congenital heart defects, according to new research in the American Heart Association's journal Circulation.

"Our study examined the effect of folic acid food fortification on each specific subtype of congenital heart disease based on the Canadian experience before and after food fortification was made mandatory in 1998," said K.S. Joseph, M.D., Ph.D., the study's senior author and professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the School of Population and Public Health at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada.

The number of cardiovascular drugs in the research pipeline has declined across all phases of development in the last 20 years even as cardiovascular disease has become the number one cause of death world-wide, according to research published today in JACC: Basic to Translational Science.

While the development and use of new prescription drugs have been associated with significant reduction in cardiovascular mortality over the past two decades, cardiovascular disease is still the leading cause of death in the developing world and accounts for 1 in 3 deaths in the United States. There has been growing concern over the decline in the development of new therapies.

This is the reply after asking a scientist to endorse putting a draft of an article into a more fitting category on the arXiv, which is a mere preprint archive (not a journal or anything like that) where I already put almost 20 articles, and the endorsement would be anonymous, so this established scientist fears that the enforcers at the PC arXiv may notify his or her University - this is the state of free speech today, the reality of the scientific community:

Hi Sascha,

NEW YORK, NY (August 29, 2016)-- New findings suggest that most Americans with depression receive no treatment, while raising the possibility that overtreatment of depression is also widespread. Less than a third of American adults who screened positive for depression received treatment for their symptoms, whereas over two-thirds of adults receiving treatment for depression did not report symptoms of depression or serious psychological distress, according to a study from Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) and the University of Pennsylvania.

The study also found that among those who are treated for depression, less than half of those with severe psychological distress are seen by a mental health specialist.

Even if we find it difficult to calculate complicated probabilities on the spot, our brains constantly carry out these sorts of computations without our awareness -- and they're remarkably good at it.

Dogs have the ability to distinguish vocabulary words and the intonation of human speech through brain regions similar to those that humans use, a new study reports. Attila Andics et al. note that vocabulary learning "does not appear to be a uniquely human capacity that follows from the emergence of language, but rather a more ancient function that can be exploited to link arbitrary sound sequences to meanings." Words are the basic building blocks of human languages, but they are hardly ever found in nonhuman vocal communications. Intonation is another way that information is conveyed through speech, where, for example, praises tend to be conveyed with higher and more varying pitch. Humans understand speech through both vocabulary and intonation.

New research presented at this year's World Congress of Anaesthesiologists (WCA) in Hong Kong (Aug. 28 - Sept. 2) shows that allowing children to use iPads to distract them before surgery requiring general anaesthesia is as effective at lowering their anxiety as conventional sedatives. Furthermore, parental satisfaction and quality of anaesthesia induction was higher in children using iPads. The study is by Dr Dominique Chassard, EPICIME, Hopital Mere Enfant, Hospices Civils de Lyon, Bron, France, and colleagues.

HOUSTON-(Aug. 23, 2016)-Researchers at Houston Methodist have developed an artificial intelligence (AI) software that reliably interprets mammograms, assisting doctors with a quick and accurate prediction of breast cancer risk. According to a new study published in Cancer (early online Aug. 29), the computer software intuitively translates patient charts into diagnostic information at 30 times human speed and with 99 percent accuracy.

A new study suggests gaps exist in the treatment of depression with many individuals who screen positive for the mental health disorder not receiving treatment, according to an article published online by JAMA Internal Medicine.

Previous research has suggested many adults with depression are not treated for their symptoms. Screening for depression has received increased attention with the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommending that adults be screened for depression and that follow-up services for treatment be provided. Thus, it is important to assess national treatment patterns for those who screen positive for depression.

Primary care physicians are critical in identifying children and adolescents who have thyroid disorders and early identification and treatment helps to optimize growth and development.

Andrew J. Bauer, M.D., of The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and coauthors examined the presentation, evaluation and treatment of thyroid disorders seen in primary care practice in a new review article published online by JAMA Pediatrics. The authors conducted a literature review and the article includes 83 publications.

The authors focused on congenital hypothyroidism, acquired hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism and thyroid nodules.